PORTO

ACCOUNTING
& BUSINESS
SCHOOL
POLYTECHNIC
OF PORTO

M MASTER DEGREE
DIGITAL MARKETING
Mariana P. Silva The Age of Hybrid Events Amplifying the power of culture

The Age of Hybrid Events

Amplifying the power of culture
through digital experiences
(Music Festivals feat. Technology)
through digital experiences (Music Festivals feat. Technology)

Mariana P. Silva

11/2021
11/2021
 PORTO
ACCOUNTING
& BUSINESS
SCHOOL
POLYTECHNIC
OF PORTO

M MASTER DEGREE
DIGITAL MARKETING
Mariana P. Silva The Age of Hybrid Events Amplifying the power of culture

The Age of Hybrid Events

Amplifying the power of culture
through digital experiences
(Music Festivals feat. Technology)
through digital experiences (Music Festivals feat. Technology)

Mariana P. Silva

Master Thesis
presented to Porto Accounting & Business School
in order to obtain the in Digital Marketing,
under the guidance of Doutor José Luís Reis
11/2021

ii
“Culture, real proper culture breeds creativity and connection. Builds
bridges, relationships, and life itself. So, we can take the power of
technology and mix it with the power of culture and expand the reach
and expand the potential for all those positive things that music,
culture and art have. All those effects on people’s lives. And you can
see the mad power of technology to amplify culture and connectivity
and that is something that I really believe.”
Robin Collings

iii
Dedication

“I was always an unsual girl,

My mother told me I had a chameleon soul.
No morall compass pointing due north, no fixed personality.
Just an inner indecisiveness
That was as wide and as wavering as the ocean.
And if I said that I didn’t plan for it to turn out this, I’d be lying.
Because I was born to be the other woman.
Who belonged to no one, who belonged to everyone.
Who had nothing, who wanted everything.
With a fire for every experience. And an obsession for freedom.
(…)
Every night I used to pray that I’d find my people
And finally, I did. On the open road.
We had nothing to lose, nothing to gain
Nothing we desired anymore…
Except to make our lives into a work of art.
Live fast. Die young. Be wild. And have fun.
I believe in the country America used to be.
I believe in the person I want to become.
I believe in the freedom of the open road.
And my motto is the same as ever.
I believe in the kindness of strangers.
And when I’m at war with myself, I ride. I just ride.
Who are you?
Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies?
Have you created a life for yourself where you’re free to experience them?
I have. I’m f****** crazy.
But I’m free.”
Ride by Lana Del Rey

This thesis is dedicated to my sister, Jéssica.

iv
Acknowledgments

To my friend, Rui Pedro Bessa. Partner of long conversations, best friend at all moments
and like-minded person that never stops believing in me or supporting me. We have been
growing side by side for 5 years and I could not be more happy that ISCAP brought us
together, and that our resilience fortified this strong, mature and rich friendship that I am
so proud of. The future is ours, siga!

To my therapist, Dra. Carolina. I will never be able to pay you back or thank you enough
for completely changing my life, forever. You made me see who I truly am and the value
that I have. Never for a second in almost 3 years you stopped believing in me or gave up
on me. Everything that I am today – and that I am finally proud of – is because of your
constant reminder that I am more than I thought I was. I am now prepared to pursue what
I always aspired to and now I have all the necessary tools to be who I always wanted to
be. I wish I could find a way to express my deep gratitude and I hope life is always so
kind and generous to you like you always were to me.

To my mother, my sister and my beautiful and much beloved dogs, Nala and Kiara. I
never belonged in the same world as you, but I want to thank you for trying your best to
understand me, for trying to respect my freedom and the path that I chose. For never
allowing me to give up everytime that I wanted to. And for taking good care and give
utter and unconditional love to my babies. I wish one day I can give you what you desire.

To my best friends. Rita, you are there every single day and night and you truly live the
fullest of life with me. Thank you for motivating me to never give up and live my freedom
and ambition with me. Joana, we grew up together, lived everything together, you know
I will take you with me in my heart everywhere that I go. My closer and most faithful
friend. Catarina Brandão, for sharing my biggest passion with me and teaching me so
much in such a short time. I am really happy and honored that you allow me to be in your
secret world. Hélder, for always checking up on me, sharing the love for my muse and
my music with me. I am really happy that we continue to share our interests and our lives
with each other. Diogo, for always investing on me and believing so much in my potential.
For being a safe place to share everything and to grow without fear of making mistakes.

To my team, COMAP. The biggest honor of my life is being able to represent you and
lead you. I could never erase from my mind the moment I was invited to lead this team
of golden hearted, hard working, ambitious and good people. I am so proud of all of you.
v
Bárbara, Lisa, Sarah, Lettuce, Filipe, Rachel, Renz, Berto, Hugo and all the members of
the team, thank you for allowing me to be myself, to grow alongside you and teaching me
so much about absolutely everything.

To my soulmate, Nicole Argyropoulou. Better than the blast we had in Romania is the
the friendship that we built afterwards. You are my twinnie, my sunshine. The most like-
minded person of my life and 4000km are nothing compared to how close you are to me
everyday. I miss you so much, Σ ΑΓΑΠΩΩΩΩΩ ΠΟΛΥ.

To my Erasmus students. For trusting in me and allowing me to be who I truly am without

any judgments or labels. You helped build the person that I am now and I do not think
you have an idea of how much you changed my life. My biggest reward will always be
having dozens of messages on my Whatsapp asking for help and see those smiles on your
faces in the end of every semester. We will see each other again somewhere in the world.

To my house, ISCAP, to Praxe and to Grupo X. Everytime that I put on my Traje I do my

best to be worthy of representing our colors and what we stand for. Every moment that I
spent with my freshman sweater and/or with my Traje, I spend it laughing and full of
love, joy and pride. Thank you for letting me flourish and grow. A minha casa de hoje e
de sempre. Ao ISCAP, à Praxe, ao Grupo X… e viva a tradição académica!

To Ana Isabel Pinheiro. Talking about my academic life would never make sense without
talking about you. My partner, my companion and my true friend. Thank you for being
there and help making these 5 years the bests of my life (as well as surviving with me
every morning after a FEUP Caffé or a night in Galerias). I will always miss you.

To Beatriz Ferreira, José Miguel Neves and the team of the Academic Federation of Porto.
For being so understanding, patient and trusting so much in me. I am very fullfilled to be
able to do what I do and have you to guide me.

To Doutor José Luís Reis for the guidance and support to write this thesis. Also to Doutor.
Carlos Carvalho for elucidating me and point me towards the right direction.

Last but not least, to everyone who is meaningful to me. Constante, Cláudia, Pita, Rita,
Delay, Cátia, Thea, Rafael Maia, Fili, Neiva, Di, Gaby, and all friends and family –
especially my baby Mi – my life is brighter and happier with you. Thank you.

vi
Abstract

Music festivals represent a significant part of culture as identity shapers and experience
providers. With the growing use of technology in all structures of society, music festivals
are not aside and have been embracing technologies as a way of creating a value offer
and differentiation factor. Livestreams, cashless systems, digital events along with the use
of virtual reality and social media have been ways to create a meaningful and immersive
experience to the attendees and promote engagement and commitment with the music
festival as a brand. This study demonstrates exactly how the implementation of
technology in music festivals, thus making them hybrid, affects the overall experience of
the attendee. It shows the advantages, challenges and in what specific ways it can affect
the event for the promoters and the attendees, along with what aspects organizers need to
acknowledge when considering embracing hybrid experiences in their festivals. It creates
awareness and raises debate about this increasingly reality, providing the organization
trustworthy insights about the topic of digital and/or virtual experiences.

Key words: music festivals, digital events, virtual events, hybrid experiences, overall
experience

vii
Table of contents

Introduction.....................................................................................................................1

1 Music festival as a transformative experience .................................................... 6

1.1 Concept and evolutionary path....................................................................... 6

1.2 The overall experience ................................................................................... 7

1.3 Woodstock: 3 days of peace and music that changed the world forever ........ 10

1.4 The commercialization of music festivals .................................................... 11

2 The experience of a music festival as a hybrid event ........................................ 13

2.1 Digital and immersive technologies in music festivals ................................. 14

2.1.1 Digital music festivals............................................................................ 21

3 Methodology and data collection ....................................................................... 26

4 Results analysis .................................................................................................. 31

4.1 Comfort, security and monitoring ................................................................ 32

4.2 Virtual and digital experiences..................................................................... 34

4.2.1 Advantages ............................................................................................ 34

4.2.2 Challenges ............................................................................................. 38

4.3 The overall hybrid experiences .................................................................... 42

5 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 52

6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 58

7 Contributions and impacts ................................................................................ 59

8 Study limitations ................................................................................................ 60

9 Recommendations for future investigations ..................................................... 60

References.......................................................................................................................61

Attachments...................................................................................................................74

Attachment I - Major brands at music festivals………………………….………75

Attachment II - Nielsen's "Music 360 Report"………………………..………....76

viii
Attachment III - Tomorrowland: Social Media Overview 2016……..………….77

Attachment IV - Coachella's Social Media Engagement……………………..…78

ix
List of figures

Figure 1: Cole and Chancellor’s (2018) overall experience............................................ 8

Figure 2: Set of Lost Horizon ...................................................................................... 22
Figure 3: Tomorrowland Around The World 2020 ...................................................... 24

x
List of tables

Table 1: Interviews ..................................................................................................... 27

Table 2: Questions to the interviewees ........................................................................ 29
Table 3: Comfort, security, and monitoring ................................................................. 47
Table 4: Digital and virtual experiences ...................................................................... 50
Table 5: The overall experience .................................................................................. 51

xi
List of abbreviatures

VR – Virtual Reality

AR – Augmented Reality

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

AI – Artificial Intelligence

RFID – Radio Frequency Identification

UGC – User-generated Content

TAW – Tomorrowland Around the World

QF – Queima das Fitas

FAP – Academic Federation of Porto

xii
 INTRODUCTION

1
 Music festivals achieved a status where they are considered major cultural
moments, making its attendance an experience that many people crave (Gajanan, 2019).
The growth of music festivals, the live music industry and technology resulted in the
general proliferation of their performance in the media (Holt, 2010) in various forms.
Currently, technology plays a key role in the celebration of live music, enabling social
and cyber spaces (Jones & Bennett, 2015) where organizers can find ways to engage with
their audiences (Raso, 2016). With this, it is no longer viable to look at offline and online
experiences as separate and exclusive categories (Jones & Bennett, 2015), thus creating
the concept of hybrid experiences. Which, in the case of music festivals, are the ones that
combine offline strategies with the implementation of technology and/or embrace digital
and/or virtual events.

All live performances are influenced by the economic reality (Auslander, 1999) and
2020 was a year where digital experiences escalated due to the cancellation of all physical
events. However, the new ways of live music allow artists to perform multiple live
concerts at different locations simultaneously (Chidekel, 2021), both digitally and live.
Which led to people now wanting to choose and control how they attend an event (Lovatt,
2021). The proliferation of hybrid models and especially digital experiences raised debate
around their viability and capability of providing the same or a similar experience to the
attendee.

With this being said, the subject of study of this research focuses on demonstrating
how the overall experience of the attendee in a hybrid music festival may be affected.
Approaches how the implementation of technology in the physical venue can improve the
experience of the festivalgoer. However, it focusses mainly in the digital and/or virtual
experience for the attendee and how it can co-habit with the physical one.

The rapid growing of digital and/or virtual experiences and subsequent hybrid models
raises questioning. The main question of this study is: how the implementation of
technologies – transforming music festivals into hybrid events – affects the overall
experience of the attendee? Also, in what ways technology can improve the music
festival? What are the advantages in adapting an in-person festival to a digital/virtual one?
What about the challenges? Are immersive digital and/or virtual events capable of
providing the same experience as the physical ones?

2
 Understanding the impacts and effects that a hybrid model has on the overall
experience of the attendees’ enables the music festival organizers to better communicate
with the consumers (Harsløf & Hallberg, 2013). By knowing how hybrid events might
affect them, they can think in more innovative marketing and digital marketing strategies
to better reach their audiences. Also, scholars agree that improving the value offer of the
experience for the festivalgoers is directly associated with their engagement (Robertson,
Yeoman, Smith, & McMahon-Beattie, 2015). Because of this, Robertson et al. (2015)
also consider that the “transformative and liminal capacity of the music festival
experience is likely to be seen as central component” of the organizers’ activity. So, by
valuating and investing on a meaningful festival experience, organizers can seek true
engagement and commitment from their attendees and perpetuate relationships with
them.

Investigation about hybrid events – focusing mainly on digital and/or virtual events,
the overall experience of the attendees and especially after the covid-19 pandemic –, is a
subject that did not receive a lot of scholarly research. It is a growing reality that has been
giving rise to conversations within the industry and a lot of professionals of the area are
commenting about it. However, there is not much real time, practical and proper
investigation about these experiences.

In recognition of this gap in the subject, this study intends to present the topic’s
current state of the art and information that might be useful for the music festival
organizers when they consider investing on digital experiences and hybrid models in
general. Also intends to be a trustworthy source of information that is based on the
expertise of professionals – that directly or indirectly worked with these technologies –
and have the knowledge and experience to elucidate the public about this theme.

The main goal of this investigation is to try to understand how the implementation
of technologies and the adaptation to hybrid models affect the overall experience and if it
can improve it. Furthermore, understand in what areas of the festival this can happen and
in what ways as well. To acknowledge the advantages of a hybrid model and specifically
a digital experience is one of the goals too, as are the challenges that it has. The last and
ultimate goal of this research reveals to be the understanding if digital or virtual music
events provide the same experience as the physical ones.

3
 In what regards the organization of this study and its methodology, it is divided in
4 main parts – framework, study methodology, results analysis and discussion, and final
considerations. The framework starts with an exploration of the concept of music festivals
and their evolution until the current days, explaining how they became to be considered
an experience, thus the roots of this term applied in music festivals with Woodstock Music
& Art Fair. It is also made research on how they were commercialized and finishes by
investigating the experience of a music festival as a hybrid event, demonstrating
immersive technologies that are being implemented currently and giving two practical
examples of digital and virtual events (Chapters 1 and 2).

The study methodology details how, when and with whom the data was collected,
also explaining the steps of this process and why they were chosen. A qualitive method
through semi-structured interviews was used for this investigation, and in the same
chapter are presented the questions made to the interviewees and their usefulness to
achieve the goals of this paper (Chapter 3).

In the results analysis and discussion is elaborated a deep exploration of the data
collected, explaining all important subjects, and relating them between each other,
thereby providing a coherent explanation of the interviewees’ contributions. This is
followed by a discussion where the concepts and ideas of the interviewees are co-related
with the research made in the framework, therefore answering the research questions
(Chapters 4 and 5).

The last chapter are the final considerations where an overview of the whole
research is done and are enhanced the most important aspects investigated. The
contributions of the study are presented as well as the impacts that it might have. The
limitations felt throughout the study are pointed as well, along with recommendations for
future investigations (Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9). The research ends with the references used
and attachments that are considered useful for a better understanding of some subjects.

4
 FRAMEWORK

5
1 Music festival as a transformative experience

1.1 Concept and evolutionary path

Music festivals are events consisting in a large variety of bands and musical artists
performing shows, on numerous stages, over a period of days to a large audience (Gibson
& Connell, 2003). The origins of music festivals date back to ancient Greece with the
Pythian Games, involving competitions in music, arts and sports and being already a
moment where people would come together to see these competitions and have fun in an
environment that was not only about music (Gajanan, 2019). From the Pythian Games in
582 BC to the Scottish Mods in the 11th century and the Three Choirs Festival in the
cathedrals of England in the 17th century – that attracted crowds to hear the works of
Rossini, Mozart and Beethoven – festivals evolved and grew both in terms of number of
festivals and the importance that they represent amongst various branches of arts (Dowd,
Liddle, & Nelson, 2004).
The inception of the festival culture in the Western society can be traced to the first
Newport Jazz Festival, which took place in Rhode Island (United States) in 1954. It was
the first official jazz festival and one of the first official music festivals in the world.
Around 13,000 people attended to hear jazz, gospel, and blues’ performances by famous
singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday (Marzarotto, 2018).
After that, festivals started to be associated with counterculture youth movements
and hippie-inspired clothing (Rudolph, 2016). This was strengthened by festivals that
happened in the next years like Monterey International Pop Festival in California – which
was America’s first ever major rock festival – where artists like Janis Joplin, The Who
and Jimi Hendrix launched their careers (EDM Festival Insider, 2020). Monterey
happened in 1967 and its atmosphere was so characteristic and special that it pioneered
the “you had to be there” feeling modern music festivals strive to embody (Khawaja,
2017).
Marzarotto (2018) affirms that throughout the 1970s, the popularity of music
festivals spread to the world and started attracting massive gatherings of mainly young
people to enjoy the music and the festival itself. In addition, some festivals also evolved
to other genres and subgenres of rock music, punk, metal, and others. One of these other
genres was electronic music, which was considered “underground”. However, although
it was also associated with the “rave culture”, it grew through the 1990s and in the late

6
millennium and beginning of the 2000s, the genre started to be commercialized and
brought into festival culture with the creation of festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival.
During the early 2000s, festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo and Tomorrowland had
their first edition and completely changed the industry. Electric Daisy Carnival in Las
Vegas started in 2003 with 5,000 people attending, 320,000 people in 2012 and reaching
400,00 in 2015 (Irion, 2016). Sub-genres of electronic music like techno, hardstyle,
house, drum and bass, among others, also grew to become a genre “of their own” and be
played in specific festivals like Awakenings Amsterdam, Boom Festival, Neopop or
Untold, where people can enjoy this specific kind of music.
Modern music festivals have been shaped by increasingly wide cultures and
cutting-edge tech and the 1990s convergence of the rock scene and electronic music’s
raves were a turning point for these events (Haider, 2019). Festivals are events that have
a cultural influence on hundreds of thousands of people (Rudolph, 2016) and can be
considered to play a major role in the lives of their participants, since they are viewed as
an opportunity to break free from our routine and have fun (Chakraborty, 2014).
Festivals are considered by their participants as a unique place: a site liberated from
everyday rules, where the attendees can bond with strangers and stumble across new
sounds and sensations (Haider, 2019). This helped creating the idea of “transformative
festivals”, since encourages people to learn about nature, spirituality and themselves
(Chamberlain, 2017), remaining a creative place where new expressions and arts can be
conceived and explored (Haider, 2019).

1.2 The overall experience

Kinnunen (2018) defines the total festival experience as something that is

constructed from the available experience elements and factors besides the festival’s core
product (what is performed at the stage(s)) like available services, people, environment,
food, drinks, other persons’ behaviour, and everything (tangible and intangible) that is
present in a music festival. It can also be defined as the attendees’ interactions with
planned activities (Chen, Singh, Ozturk, & Makki, 2014) and the social interaction
(Arnould & Price, 1993) between the participants. Using spatial and temporal
arrangements of event elements (Richards, Marques, & Mein, 2014), the festival
experience has been scholarly conceptualized as transformative by Pine & Gilmore
(1998) since it takes the participants out of their everyday routines.

7
 Cole and Chancellor (2018) state that the festival overall experience can be divided
into 3 main areas: programme-related features, amenity, and entertainment features.
Programme-related features are not the core of the programme itself but supplementary
programmes like commercials, outdoors, public displays, schedules, among others.
Amenity consists of services like food, beverages, facilities, cleanliness, accessibility, etc
and entertainment features which are the music, the appearance of the festival and the
quality of them both. For a better understanding of Cole and Chancellor’s (2018) concept
of the overall experience, Figure 1 summarizes its concepts.

Programme-related features

Overall experience in a
Amenity features
music festival

Entertainment features
Figure 1: Cole and Chancellor’s (2018) overall experience

On the other hand, Pine and Gilmore (1998) state that there are 4 experience
domains: entertainment, education, escapism, and aesthetics. Entertainment experiences
occur when and where people observe the activities that are happening in the festival like
the shows, workshops, among others. Educational experiences are those solicited by
festival attendees when they feel like their knowledge and skills may be improved with
their participation in a festival. Escapism is related to the festivalgoers’ desire to engage
in a different experiential context that they would not usually engage in their day-to-day
lives. Finally, aesthetic experiences consist of the attendees’ overall evaluation of the
physical environment of the venue.
Bennett et al. (2014) assert that music festivals are also places of definition of
lifestyle, since their offers in terms of food, art, literature, and music accentuate and
celebrate a particular form of lifestyle through socialization. This occurs because festivals
provide the chance to engage in different social activities and relations with different
people, encouraging debate about a big variety of matters. Moreover, Bennett and
Woodward (2014) strengthen that the possibilities for cultural aggregation between like-
minded people are huge within festivals and this is part of their attraction for both
producers and consumers. They have the opportunity to coalesce, play together, find and
create synergies and enrol in different activities and cultural tastes. Consequently, the

8
most positive overall experiences will result from engaging consumers in memorable
offerings that have an affective component (Pine & Gilmore, 1998).
Rudolph (2016) states that music festivals influence people’s emotions,
engagement, relationships, and accomplishments since these now mega events provide
hundreds of possibilities to make new friends and build lasting relationships with other
festivalgoers. Providing physical activities such as yoga sessions, immersive brand
activations and creative art projects, they encourage freedom of expression in many
forms. Kinnunen (2018) also defends that music festivals are places capable of building
one’s identity since with all these experiences available to the participants, they encourage
discussion and debate, offering means for identity building and its demonstration to
others.
A good festival experience consists of meeting new people, listen to good music, be
stimulated to try new things in areas like art, literature or food and make good memories
(Riotta, 2015), while exists an overwhelming sense of comfort and power that comes from
a large crowd sharing the same experience (Rudolph, 2016). With this, the overall
experience must be designed to create an unique and memorable feeling in the attendee's
mind (Morgan, 2009), and festival organizers cannot solely rely on a good line-up or a
satisfying physical environment to keep their audience engaged (Slager, 2021). They are
constantly required to improve the efficiency of their infrastructure and the overall
experience of the visitors (Mortensen, Erdbrink, Rullkotter, Chusny, & Kortes).

For a better understanding of the festival experience, Woodstock Music and Arts Fair
needs to be highlighted since it was a phenomenon that “created waves in world
consciousness” and it was an empowering experience that people yearn to have in today’s
festivals (Reynolds, 2009). Its importance as a transforming event of people’s mindset,
its music and art that inspired other countries (Haider, 2019), along with the creation of a
Woodstock-like dialogue about today’s festivals – for the feeling of finding like-minded
people and people with the shared musical taste –, this festival created a movement in
pop culture. Its concept went from “underground” to “mainstream” (Garelick, 2019) and
it is a very important case study if one intends to know and understand the festival’s
experience nowadays.

9
1.3 Woodstock: 3 days of peace and music that changed the world forever

Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a hippie festival that promoted “3 days of peace
and music” and took place in Bethel, New York, in 1969 (Bennett, 2004). As Young and
Lang’s (1979) observation suggests, to fully understand the socio-cultural significance of
Woodstock, one needs to view it in the broader context of the late 1960s.

America had a society increasingly fragmented in what regards structural matters like
civil rights, drug use and sexual liberation (Evans & Kingsbury, 2009). The general visual
image of the youth, together with their lifestyle, leisure preferences and general outlook
of young people over life grew to become more distinct from their parents’ culture
(Bennett, 2004). However, it was the changing nature of music and fashion style during
the 1960s that gave such statements a distinctive edge over what had happened in the
years before (Bennett, Cultures of Popular Music, 2001)

Even though during the 1960s baby boomers were teenagers, they were already
connecting into the political scene and being openly against the Vietnam War and in
favour of the Civil Rights movement (Rudolph, 2016). The opposition to that conflict was
a great unifier for the people who attended the festival (Evans & Kingsbury, 2009) and
“the Woodstock Festival synergized a way of life which had been growing through the
Sixties: anti-war, anti-establishment, pro-drugs, non-competitive and individualistic”
(Young & Lang, 1979).

Evans and Kingsbury (2009) state that 3 times the 150,000 anticipated people
attended the festival, and it is known for the relaxed attitude towards sex and drugs, the
opposition to the Vietnam war and its music as a way for free personal expression. It was
an opportunity for “free expression and the allure of an instant youth community (…), the
place where young people proved that they could take care of each other and that working
for the man was not necessarily the only way to have a meaningful life” (Gold, 2019).
Characteristics like the fellowship between strangers, the lack of violence and the
atmosphere of sharing are strongly highlighted by the attendees of the festival and a lot
of sociological analyses have appeared over the years, focusing on different and particular
aspects of the event (Evans & Kingsbury, 2009).

Woodstock inspired the creation of charity organizations, environmental

associations, and Legal Aid (Gold, 2019), becoming the inspiration for European festivals
like the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts or Bardney Pop Festival,

10
both in the United Kingdom. Haider (2019) also suggests that “Woodstock’s hippie spirit
(captured in numerous images, films and songs) summoned the sense that the music
festival could be life-changing”.

1.4 The commercialization of music festivals

In the current days, festivals have turned into a business model, gathering thousands
of bohemian-life lovers and festivalgoers to celebrate arts, music, and experiences
(Steinman, 2020). Festivals are growing by size and by number of artists performing in
them and they find themselves competing for the same bands or artists, trying to ensure a
high level of good quality music to keep festivalgoers interested (Atkinson, 2016). With
expensive prices, multiple stages, camping options and nearly endless lists of performers,
festivals also face risks like the bad weather and the cancellation of major attractions that
consequently affect the whole festival experience (Gajanan, 2019).
Music festivals make up for a large piece of the $20B global live music industry
(Shaikh, 2016) and grew into a major money-maker business. Is inserted in a competitive
industry that sees hundreds of such events each year all over the world (Gajanan, 2019).
They are not just more expensive to organise, they are also more expensive to attend
(Saville, 2018), which results in promoters capitalizing every single aspect of the festival:
ticket, camping, parking, food, water, alcohol, merchandise, late night music, VIP areas,
among others (Mason, 2015). However, they are also places where discussions are held
about the current problems of the world like environmental destruction, global warming,
exploitation, and the attempt to reduce cultural diversity (Saville, 2018).

Deng (2018) asserts that brands play a major role in large music festivals. They
contribute in a significant way to the whole experience that the organizers try to provide
by bringing consumers enjoyment and entertainment. People attend festivals for the
fashion, the photos, and the overall large music festival experience. By integrating a brand
into the experience, one can also create value in the festivalgoers’ minds. The major
brands like Spotify, Forever 21 and McDonald’s lead the charts of the music festivals top
brands according to their category (see Attachment I), demonstrating how brand
activations in these events bring strong revenue both in financial profit and brand
recognition.

11
 Brand presence in these events is important since it offers the possibility to
communicate in different ways to the public since the participants in music festivals are
more pre-disposed to absorb all the experiences and information about the brands
(Ribeirinho, 2014). According to Eventbrite’s report “The New Era of Concert & Music
Festival Sponsorships”, they concluded that 82% of consumers who attend four or more
music festivals a year embrace company and brand activations. The areas that attendees
engage the most are food and drink activations (70%), Wi-Fi access (61%) cell phone
charging stations (46%), lounges or relaxation areas (45%) and photo booths (43%)
(Steimer, 2019).

Nielsen’s research “Music 360 report” concludes that 76% of festivalgoers and 51%
of all consumers say they feel fore favourable towards brands that sponsor a tour or a
concert (see Attachment II). And in Portugal, for example, the 50 festivals monitored by
MediaMonitor – from Markest – provided in 2019 a mediatic retorn of 137,7 million
euros for the brands (Marcela, 2020). Also, the average return on the investment in music
festivals, according to Global Media, is 20 times higher than the brand’s initial investment
(Jornal Económico: Revista de Imprensa, 2019). “Corporate sponsors play a huge role in
the music festival ecosystem, with sponsorship dollars being the third largest revenue
stream for festivals” (Shaikh, 2016).

12
2 The experience of a music festival as a hybrid event

The nature of events has changed forever (Chodor, 2020) and the way cultural goods
are produced, distributed, and consumed is constantly evolving based on the fast
evolution of technology. Which, as consequence, is changing consumers’ preferences
(Harbi, Grolleau, & Bekir, 2014). Jones and Bennett (2015) suggest that live concerts
complement participation on online communities such as music blogs and social networks
and like we explored in 1.2, the “I was at Woodstock” statement has been a status-
enhancement for a long time and that phenomenon grew in magnitude alongside the rapid
development of virtual social networks (Lingel & Naaman, 2012).

It is also important to state that music itself has changed as well, making festivals a
bigger attraction for listeners (Charron, 2017). Due to the digitalization and streaming of
music during the past decade and the fact that it is practically free, live music has become
much more special (Gajanan, 2019). On the other hand, fueled by the development of
immersive technologies such as spherical videos, Virtual Reality (VR) goggles and other
web-based applications – that offer the users the possibility to attend live concerts online
– virtual concerts are rapidly growing in popularity (Charron, 2017).

The past decade also saw the reintroduction of VR (Frew, 2017) through interactions
and immersive content (Marchiori, Niforatos, & Preto, 2017). Immersion can be
described as “the feeling of being inside a virtual event, enabling the user to escape from
the real world in a manner that differs from viewing content on other media” (Rebelo,
Noriega, Duarte, & Soares, 2012). Is the subjective feeling that one is participating in a
comprehensive, realistic experience based on design strategies that combine sensory and
symbolic factors (Dede, 2009). With this, a virtual environment is one that reflects reality
and that allows the user to interact with others and be immersed in that same environment
(Schultheis & Rizzo, 2001).

Immersion can also be measured in an objective manner (Herrera, Bailenson, Weisz,

Ogle, & Zaki, 2018), regardless of the human experience that it provokes (Oh &
Bailenson, 2017). Different variables such as tracking level, stereoscopic vision, image
quality, sound quality, user perspective and resolution (Cummings & Bailenson, 2016)
can be measured and this happens because immersion refers to the technological quality
of the media of a particular VR apparatus in relation to its capacity to remove us from the
physical reality, thus providing different levels of presence (Charron, 2017).

13
 Charron (2017) also asserts that the economic potential of virtual concerts is almost
infinite and that “technological innovations distort the frontier between live and mediated
performances”. However, questions of whether mediated artistic performances can
provide a similar experience is causing a lot of debate. Some argue that digitally mediated
concerts do not offer “the possibilities for the unexpected, iterative and expansive
experience” (Harper, 2015) and Lovatt (2021) defends that the “look, feel, content and,
crucially, the attendee experience should be the same high standard for everyone,
irrespective of how they have chosen to attend” (in-person or virtually).

On one hand, some argue that even if digital mediation maintains the time dimension
– now –, it loses the space dimension – here – (Harper, 2015). And although a hybrid
event is one that is available to persons who are actually in the venue and to online
audiences (Lovatt, 2021), live performances retain some elements of uniqueness – like
being there – that cannot be reproduced (Holt, 2010). Also, a lot of VR and livestreams
platforms were developed by software engineers, which may mean that their vision as
engineers might not be as creative and engagement-oriented like event planners or even
creative producers (Lovatt, 2021).

On the other hand, while presence can be influenced by technological aspects

(Peperkorn, Diemer, & Mühlberger, 2015), this concept is frequently associated with
immersive technologies (Charron, 2017). Rosa et. al (2016) state that immersive virtual
reality is thought to be advantageous because it leads to higher levels of presence,
enhancing the effectiveness of a mediated experience (Cummings & Bailenson, 2016).
Digital technologies and online engagement can democratize discussion, increase
audiences (Conner, 2013) and present new performers by facilitating information and
content, thereby reducing the financial risks of attending a physical concert (Burland &
Pitts, 2010).

2.1 Digital and immersive technologies in music festivals

The internet offers easy opportunities to connect with others (Jones & Bennett, 2015)
and the 2020 pandemic lead almost overnight to a shift in attitude in what regards live
events (Roettgers, 2021). According to Slager (2021), technologies are increasingly being
used in the festival landscape, and they play one of the most important roles in the festival
experience. The organisers have discovered the possibilities of new technologies, which

14
can help to improve the overall festival experience (Mortensen, Erdbrink, Rullkotter,
Chusny, & Kortes) and the development of onsite festival technology. From streaming
technology like big video screens, art installations, huge LED arrays on festival stages
(that allow artists to perform in front of full-color high-resolution video), livestreams,
VR, chatbots and chats in livestreams, cashless systems and also social media, these tools
and innovations aims to produce an immersive experience that the audience will
remember and will come back in the next year to repeat it (Pitchfork, 2017).

1. Livestreams

There are multiple ways that audiences can use digital technology to participate in
“live-performances”, from posting pictures and video footage on social media to the
engagement in social media apps like Twitter (Jones & Bennett, 2015), and participating
directly in livestreams. Livestreams can reach large and new audiences and, as
consequence, generate millions in revenue (Hatch, 2020). Not only are they an optimal
way of introducing an experience to new customers as it became the most successful
integrated technology in the event industry (Kacicki, 2019).

Livestreaming can be especially adequate to a person who, for example, due to

financial constraints or physical and cognitive limitations, prefers to stay at home and
consume a show via a livestream while interacting with other people at the same time
(Hatch, 2020). From the local gig to a global festival, live music is streamed, shared,
uploaded, downloaded, reviewed, watched, and re-watched online. Thanks to digital
technologies like livestreaming, the definition of live music has also expanded to include
this way of transmitting a show that does not require that people are in the same place or
even at the same time (Jones & Bennett, 2015).

The music industry has been exploring more the possibilities that livestreaming has
and increasing their investments in this technology (Peisner, 2020). Festivals have been
embracing this reality as well since it has been a way to show the audiences who, for
some reason or another, cannot go to the venue something special and unique
(Hämäläinen, 2021). Livestreams demonstrated to be a beneficial tool to increase the
brand awareness of the event, expanding reach and visibility (Schumaker, 2018) and
promoting interactions.

15
 Vandenberg et al. (2021) assert that the “liveness” is crucial to the experience and
there are much more comments shared in a livestream than on regular videos. “The closer
the flow (of messages) is to real conversational exchange, the more possibility of a sense
of collective entrainment” (Collins, 2014). This indicates that people think it is important
to communicate that they are present in these online events (Skjuve & Brandtzaeg, 2019)
and the comments’ section provide “the engagement needed to for creating social ties and
feelings of community, as they enable participants to move beyond immediate interaction
with acquaintances and communicate to the audience in general” (Vandenberg,
Berghman, & Schaap, 2021). The following statistics demonstrate the influence that
livestreaming had on major festivals:

▪ The 2019 edition of Coachella was streamed on YouTube, counting with 82

million live views, which represents an increase of 90% compared to 2018.
YouTube has been Coachella’s exclusive livestream partner for 9 years and
in 2019 even created a special curated selection called “Coachella Curated”.
Which was a channel featuring performances, interviews, short
documentaries, among others (Kilkenny, 2019).

▪ Regarding Tomorrowland, during the three-day weekend of July 22nd until

the 24th of 2016, 175 million unique viewers on Twitter, Facebook and
Snapchat interacted with the event, generating 490 million online touchpoints
on these platforms. On Facebook, live shows were seen 14 million times and
their page was visited by 140 million unique users – see Attachment III (Bein,
2016).

▪ Music festivals are also in the streaming services of major TV channels. For
example, Glastonbury in 2018 was livestreamed almost in its entirety via the
BBC’s iPlayer Service, strengthened by their extensive TV coverage of the
main stage and live coverage spots (Event Manager Blog, 2018).

In 2020, Bandsintown estimated that 60,905 livestreams took place between

March 25 and December 12. Streams with 10,000 or fewer viewers accounted roughly
75% of the livestreams, while streams with 10,001-250,000 viewers accounted for 19,1%
and major artist streams with 250,000 or more accounted for 3,9% (Chidekel, 2021),
demonstrating how livestreaming is a tool that can be an extremely powerful for the music

16
festival brand since it gives the people the possibility to “experience the atmosphere of
the festival without leaving their homes” (Haider, 2019). People enjoy livestreams and
chats for a variety of reasons, which include immediate feedback loop, real-time dynamic
experiences, and engagement with other people (Hatch, 2020). Also, according to a study
conducted by Digitell, 30% of people that watch a livestreamed event buy a ticket for the
physical event in the following year (Kacicki, 2019).

2. Virtual Reality

Rueda & Lara (2020) affirm that historically VR has been characterized as a “set of
technologies that provide immersive experiences in computer-generated worlds, creating
realistic illusions and sensorimotor contingencies that other technology-based mediums
such as desktops or TVs cannot stimulate to the same degree.” VR is an experience
generator (Bailenson, 2018) and provides the possibility of simulating events that may be
experienced in physical reality (Rueda & Lara, 2020).

VR has key benefits like engagement, collaborative learning, and experiential

learning (Dalgarno & Lee, 2010) and one of its characteristics is immersion. In this case,
Sanchez-Vives and Slater (2005) state that immersion refers to the technical capability of
a computer-generated system to deliver a surrounding and convincing environment with
which the participant can interact.

The digital creation of virtual environments has opened many doors for the creation
of virtual experiences (Dieck, Dieck, & Jung, 2021) and another subjective experience
that VR can create is the sense of embodiment. Embodiment is “the sense of experiencing
the body (or some parts) as “one’s own”, creating a bodily illusion usually referred as
“body ownership” (Rueda & Lara, 2020). In addition, that illusion can be achieved by
inhabiting other avatars, which are digital representations that participants of VR
experiences can control with their actions (Won, Bailenson, & Lanier, 2015).

Good VR systems became much more affordable and is now possible to provide fully
immersive and interactive environments at an accessible cost (Gnecco, Guimarães, &
Zuffo, 2006), making it commercially available to consumers and companies. The events
industry has started to adopt this transformational technology by implementing it into live
events or using it as an alternative method for providing event experiences (Wreford,

17
Williams, & Ferdinand, 2019). The evolution of music consumption models along with
recent technological advances currently offers audiences new ways to participate in live
music, including virtually attending concerts (Charron, 2017). A VR concert is one where
real-world users participate in an avatar form in a livestreamed concert performed by a
real-world artist who is also in an avatar form within a videogame or other platforms
(Chidekel, 2021)

Coachella and Tomorrowland also invest a lot in VR and Augmented Reality

(AR). In 2017, Coachella launched an AR/VR app where the festivalgoer could access an
AR experience that used the welcome box that they previously received as a tracking
marker, transforming it into a miniature festival. It was also possible to access a VR mode
where they had free tours designed to immerse the attendees before they actually attended
the festival (Rogers, 2018). TomorrowWorld also offers a virtual experience that allows
the audience to explore the festival from any place in the world (Slager, 2021). The
potentials of VR are enormous because it can be used to simulate experiences that are
part of our common reality (Slater & Sanchez-Vives, 2016), offering the trend of an ever
immersive, engaging and multi-sensory VR experience (Dieck, Dieck, & Jung, 2021).

3. Chatbots and chats in livestreams

Chatbots are simple to use and the interaction in it does not require a very big
cognitive load (Hatch, 2020). In addition to the Frequently Asked Questions’ area in the
festivals’ websites, the promoters are investing in pre-programmed chatbots with answers
to a variety of FAQs and, in some cases, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that can
learn and adapt as the conversation flows, reducing the human intervention in the
conversation. (Event Manager Blog, 2018)

On what concerns the chats in livestreams, Hatch (2020) affirms that it is a great tool
for the audience to engage in the festival and be part of the discussion that is going on
about it. Even with the big amount of people commenting and engaging in the chat, some
platforms offer the possibility to have a chat host that moderates the conversation,
eliminating offensive comments, for example, or even enact slow mode (which means
slowing down the chat so that all comments can be seen). Also, if the user does not want
to engage, he can close the chat and see all the conversation later since it is transcribed
and saved in the platforms data collection. Livestream chats, when built and moderated

18
correctly, can totally fortify the connections between the people who are participating in
it, bringing fans and like-minded people together to share the same experience.

4. Cashless systems

Mortensen et. al affirms that there have been several promising developments
particularly in the field of cashless payments within the past 10 years. Mobile ticketing
and cashless festival experiences have been implemented using both Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) tags and integrated wristbands (Hudson & Hudson, 2013).
Wristbands with RFID allows the entrance in a festival in an easier and quicker way, also
allowing to pay for goods and services with it inside of the venue (Remling, 2012). These
technologies improved the access to events and festivals and helped the promoters reduce
frauds and waiting times at the gates, ensuring a seamless visitor experience (Hudson &
Hudson, 2013).

Linked to credit cards or loaded with funds on-site, the wristbands allow festival
attendees to pay for food, drinks, and merchandise (Winkle & Bueddefeld, 2020). First,
they were used to manage the entrance at festivals and events but eventually evolved to
incorporate secure vital payments and connect with various social media channels to share
the visitors experience (Hudson & Hudson, 2013). It has advantages like reducing
waiting-times, reduce lost or stolen credit cards and the general need for cash on-site
(Winkle & Bueddefeld, 2020). Not only do they avoid queues and paying problems, but
they also collect useful data about the attendees’ habits in a festival. Patchen (2015) also
states the union of RFID technology with virtual payment capabilities increased overall
revenues of festivals and enhanced the attendees’ experience quality.

Some examples of the appliance of this technology are Tomorrowland, who adopted
this system by sending a wristband to its visitors at home and serves as a ticket to enter
the festival, allowing the festivalgoers to pay for their consumptions (Tomorrowland,
2021). Lollapalooza’s “Lolla” cashless RFID accounted for approximately 1/3 of the total
revenue of the festival and is responsible for a 20% increase in attendees’ spending’s
(Patchen, 2015). Also, RFID Journal showed that the vendors at Low Festival who took
cashless payments reported a 20% increase in sales (Dov, 2020), thus demonstrating high
capability of improving the festival experience, while making the festivalgoers feel safer
with their money. To complement this, in a study conducted by Slager (2021), the

19
participants of the study demonstrated that festivalgoers find more motivating going to a
festival with an electronic paying system than going to a festival that does not have one.

5. Social Media

According to Kaplan & Hainlein (2010), “social media is a group of Internet-based

applications (…) that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” User-
generated content (UGC) can be seen as the sum of all the ways in which people make
use of social media, being more genuine and organic. Lopis-Amorós et al. (2019)
demonstrated that those characteristics make it much more valuable and valued by the
consumers and that the UGC has a stronger positive impact on brand equity creation than
the content produced by festival organizers.

The growth of social media platforms has been one of the keys in enabling music fans
to experience festivals through live tweets, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram posts
(Raso, 2016). Consumers make use of blogging websites, YouTube, and social media apps
such as Instagram as an effective tool to share their experience (Nittel, 2020) and to show
their friends and followers the experience that they are living. Plus, Jones and Bennett (2015)
defend that sharing attendance to live performances via social networks can help people
define their identity by indicating a higher level of authenticity. In addition to this, companies
in the last decade also embraced social media because of its potential for engagement and
collaboration with their consumers (Hudson, Roth, Madden, & Hudson, 2015), being one
of the most effective tools nowadays to create awareness of the products and the brands
amongst them.

Festivals like Tomorrowland, Coachella and Lollapalooza learned how to manage their
social media efforts to get closer and closer to their consumers. Their statistics show that:
Coachella, for example, shares stories of their events of the day, creates highlights offering
recaps of everything festivalgoers love, transmit the message and imagery that it is a perfect
mix of artistic expression, celebrities, and regular people at the same time and absolutely
everything is tagged with targeted mentions (Baglietto, 2019). For more detailed statistics,
check Attachment IV. And as a result, this type of content and actions by the brand were able
to make it one of the most discussed music festivals in the world, with a total of 41.8 million
posts from 2010 to 2017 (Raso, 2016)

20
2.1.1 Digital music festivals

2.1.1.1 Lost Horizon: the virtual reality experience

Held annually at Worthy Farm near the village of Pilton, the Glastonbury Festival of
Contemporary Performing Arts has grown from a small festival in England into one of
the largest greenfield music and performing arts festivals in the world (McKay, 2000).
The festival aims to encourage and stimulate youth culture from around the world in all
its forms (Glastonbury Festival, 2021), combining popular festival culture with more
traditional fairs and harvest festival celebrations (Flinn & Frew, 2014). With 79 stages in
2018, an area of almost 900 acres in the Vale of Avalon and an expectation of 2800
performances during the festival for the 2020 edition, the 135.000 tickets to the public
sold out in 34 minutes in the same year (Green, 2019).

The festival thrives and captivates the public through an unified series of images and
sounds that strengthen the idea of a liberating “unforgettable experience” where “the rules
of society are a bit different, a bit freer” (Glastonbury Festival, 2009), being also
characterized as a sophisticated event with a strong and central role in the development
of the region and within the spectrums of expansion of the festival economy (Flinn &
Frew, 2014).

Within the areas that Glastonbury has, Shangri La is one of them and is known for
being a creative playground that inspires generations, with art and music proliferating by
“amplifying the collective conscience”. Functioning as an outdoor gallery and “an
interdisciplinary space aiming to inspire, educate and connect”, it also intends to inspire
a critical thought by promoting dialogue about a lot of different subjects that affect the
world today (Glastonbury Festival, 2021).

With the pandemic cancelling all the festivals in 2020 and the massification of
livestreams and online gigs, the team behind Shangri La embraced the digital era and
created “a real festival, in a virtual world” (Long, 2020). “Lost Horizon is a deep multi-
layered experience, filled with wild dance-floors, secret headliners, a visual feast of art
and performance, hidden venues and some huge artists playing exclusively for you” (Lost
Horizon, 2021). The members of the crowd are all avatars with characteristics that can be
chosen or changed at anytime the festivalgoer wants and have little or even no
resemblance to his/her/their true self (Davies, 2021). After meeting Sansar, a VR
company based in San Francisco, the concept of creating Shangri La in a virtual world

21
started to be real and Lost Horizon – the first festival completely made in VR in the world
– was created.

The virtual Shangri La was showcased across four virtual stages: a nightclub called
Nomad for garage and drum & bass, the Freedom Stage for bands, the eight-sided Gas
Tower for big-room house and techno, and S.H.I.T.V, a satirical media centre showing
films and livestreaming artists in their kitchens – plus a landing zone and an art gallery
(Long, 2020). Figure 2 shows a set of the virtual world of Lost Horizon, being visible the
similarities with reality and with the physical venue of Shangri La. The result of this was
10,000 people watching through VR headsets and more than 4 million tuned in as
Beatport streamed the event on YouTube (Davies, 2021).

In terms of numbers, this free virtual festival received more than 4.36 million people
from 1100 cities in 100 countries during the 2 days of the event and more than 70 DJs
performed as “real persons” in green screen holograms that recreated the famous area of
Glastonbury. With 9 camera angles, the ones who attended the event in Sansar app could
visit all the areas of the virtual world and could donate money to the charity causes that
are associated with the festival (IQ Live Music Intelligence, 2020).

Figure 2: Set of Lost Horizon. Credit: Sansar

22
2.1.1.2 Tomorrowland Around The World

Throughout this framework the festival Tomorrowland was mentioned a lot of

times for its innovations in the wristbands, cashless systems, livestreams, among other
things. And that happened because Tomorrowland is an avant-garde music festival and
one of the world’s most loved and cherished brands in the festival’s industry (Nikjou,
2019).

Founded by two brothers in 2005, Manu and Michiel Beers, Tomorrowland is an

Electronic Dance Music Festival (Nikjou, 2019) located in Boom (a city between Brussels
and Antwerp, Belgium). From 500-1000 festival goers in 2005 to 50,000 in 2008 and
400,000 in 2019 (Pajaro, 2018) the festival usually hosts over 1000 artists, 18 stages and
38 hectares of area, being the only festival so far that had 2 million people registered for
tickets from every single country in the world, including North Korea, Syria and
Afghanistan (Nikjou, 2019), and selling out tickets in 64 minutes (Pajaro, 2018). Also
known for their diverse lineups, it gives the fans the opportunity to know artists and sub-
genres of dance music that could be unknow to them (Beckett, 2019).

In 2020, a lot of music festivals have broadcasted livestreams (Slager, 2021) and
Tomorrowland also embraced VR to create an experience similar to the in-person event
(Kocay, 2020). Tomorrowland Around the World (TAW) is a digital festival where
visitors can navigate through Pāpiliōnem (the virtual island) with a PC, laptop,
smartphone, or tablet (Tomorrowland, 2021). With the help of Dogstudio, TAW hosted
in 2 days more than 1 million people and 60 artists (Dogstudio, 2021). The production of
the event was made in 9 weeks and Tryon (2020) states that it took 4 large green screen
studios around the world, 6 4K cameras used, as well as several virtual cameras - meaning
up to 38 angles could be used at the mainstage. There were 280,000 virtual people in the
crowds, each having their own attributes like flags and lights. To render the entire virtual
world, it took ten different render farms working 24/7, which ended up with around
300TBs or raw footage. It is possible to see in Figure 3 a glimpse of the digital world that
TAW created and is possible to see the resemblances with reality, the quality of the
graphics and the meticulous details.

It is important to state that the virtual event was paid, with tickets costing an
average of 25€ for the 2 days and although the level of production at the in-person festival

23
is brutal (Nikjou, 2019), TAW managed to keep this level of quality, making it a next
level experience in its digital form for their attendees and devoted fans (Tryon, 2020).
This granted them the FWA of the Month (the largest online award program in digital
design and development) and the recognition for pushing boundaries of what online
experiences can look like (Tomorrowland Around The World, 2021).

Figure 3: Tomorrowland Around the World 2020. Photo credit: Dogstudio

24
 STUDY METHODOLOGY

25
3 Methodology and data collection

Like mentioned in the Introduction of this investigation, the methodology used for
this research is the qualitative method and was executed through semi-structured
interviews. The interviewees were contacted due to being professionals of the industry of
music festivals, thereby was considered their contribution to be essential to this
investigation.

To contextualize, Queima das Fitas (QF) of Porto is the biggest academic

celebration of Portugal. Organized by the Academic Federation of Porto (FAP), this event
happens in the second week of May of every year and lasts for 7 days straight. With
national and international artists performing every night, during the day cultural and
academic activities are also held and the students gather to celebre the end of the academic
year. In 2021 – the second year with all the events cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic
– FAP livestreamed in their social media channels a concert almost every day of the week
that QF was supposed to happen. The concerts were livestreamed during the night and
the main cultural activities that happen in QF were also highlighted with a livestream or
a video to remind the students of the Academy the spirit that characterizes this week. João
Fonseca is the General-Secretary of the Board of FAP and after a contact made through
mutual colleagues, an interview was scheduled and held in Zoom, having a duration of
57 minutes, and being conducted in Portuguese.

Robin Collings is the Founder and Producer of Shangri La in Glastonbury Festival

of Contemporary Performing Arts and Founder and Commercial Director of Lost
Horizon. After doing research about Lost Horizon, his name and contact were found
through articles that were read online and the decision to contact him was made. Robin
kindly accepted the request, and the interview was also held in Zoom, lasting for 1 hour
and 17 minutes and being conducted in English.

The 3rd person interviewed for this research will be referred to as Anonymous
since it is a person whose identity and professional occupation cannot be revealed due to
company policy. The person has been working directly with artists for 15 years, is
currently working for a festival that held a digital event and will be mentioned in this
research as Festival X due to company policy as well. After kindly accepting the contact
on LinkedIn, the same procedure as the previous interviewee was made. The interview
was held in Zoom, had a duration of 44 minutes, and was conducted in English.

26
 Maria Sara Costa is the social media and content manager of Rock in Rio. Rock
in Rio is one of the biggest and most famous festivals not only in Portugal, but especially
in Brazil, having in its history 20 editions since 1985, 2301 artists and 76 million people
reached on social media. The festival did not hold a digital/virtual festival, and this is way
Maria was contacted. For the expertise of the interviewees to be balanced, it was
important to contact a person who was not in the organization of a virtual festival so that
the results could be more broad, real, and not biased. A contact with Maria was made and
she also kindly accepted the request to do the interview. Due to Maria’s schedule, an
interview by Zoom or other platform could not be done, so the questions were sent by a
document on email and answered in the same way a few days later.

Table 1 details more information about the interviewees, the contacts made and
respective dates and information about the way that the interviews were held.

Interviews

Date of
Date of 1st
Name Professional occupation interview &
contact
platform

General-Secretary of the Board of September 3rd;

João Fonseca September 1st
the Academic Federation of Porto Zoom

Founder/Producer of Shangri La
in Glastonbury Festival of
September 8th;
Robin Collings Contemporary Performing Arts, September 2nd
Zoom
& Founder/Commercial Director
of Lost Horizon

nd
September 13th;
Anonymous Anonymous September 2
Zoom
Maria Sara Social Media & Content Manager th
September 22nd;
September 10
Costa in Rock in Rio Written interview.
Table 1: Interviews

To achieve the goals previously stablished, the questions in the interview were
made accordingly. In the beginning of the interview a presentation about the interviewer
was made, contextualizing basic contact information, current professional occupation and
providing the proper information about the theme of this research and the goals that it
has. After that, some questions were asked to understand the current technological state

27
of the festivals in which the interviewees work on/for to contextualize and adequate the
next questions according to the answers given. Having in consideration each case in
specific, the same general questions were made to all the interviewees. However, it was
considered important to let the interview flow as a conversation – semi-structured
interview – and not be a closed or scripted interview. In the end, acknowledgments were
made, and the interview was concluded. Table 2 shows the general questions that were
made having in consideration the goals stablished.

Questions made in the interviews

Question Goals

“How do you think the implementation of

technology might affect the overall experience
of a music festival?”
Understand how the implementation
of technologies and the adaptation to
“How was it in terms of reaction (the virtual
hybrid models can affect and
festival)?”
improve the overall experience.

“Do you think that if it was paid it would have

the same participation?”

“Do you think that these technologies in the in-

person festivals can actually improve them?
The experience that the attendees have and the
festival itself as a brand?”
In what areas and in what ways the
“How do you think the implementation of
implementation of technologies and
technology might affect/impact the in-person
the adaptation to hybrid models can
festival experience?”
improve the experience.

“How do you think technology might

affect/impact (positively or negatively) the
virtual festival experience?”

28
 “What benefits/advantages can a hybrid model
Acknowledge the advantages of a
bring to both audiences (in-person and
hybrid model and digital and/or
virtual)?
virtual experiences.

“What do you consider being the biggest Acknowledge the challenges of a

challenges for festival promoters in adapting hybrid model and digital and/or
face-to-face festivals to a hybrid model? virtual experiences.

Understanding if digital or virtual

“Do you think virtual festivals give the same
music events provide the same
experience to the audience as physical ones?”
experience as the physical ones.
Table 2: Questions to the interviewees

After having all the interviews done, the respective transcript was made manually
and, in the case of the interview with João Fonseca, the respective translation to English.
They were encoded in the Taguette’s platform, creating highlights about keywords and
topics considered important and from that, the results analysis started to be made.

29
RESULTS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

30
4 Results analysis

By analysing the content covered in the interviews and for a better understanding
and exploration of the results, makes sense to categorize the different areas that
technology has an impact on. With this said, the results analysis will be divided in 3 major
categories:

1. Comfort, security, and monitoring.

2. Digital and virtual experiences.
3. The overall experience.

Comfort, security, and monitoring includes the aspects that the interviewees consider
affecting positively and negatively in the implementation of technology in music
festivals. It concerns the venue itself and how technology influences questions like the
transportation of the people to the festival and its surroundings, digital tickets, and
security of the attendees on site. It also approaches how technology influences marketing
aspects since the moment that the attendees get to know the festival until the moment that
they leave it. The sub-chapter is concluded with the mention of the challenges in what
regards accessibility and connection.

Digital and virtual experiences focus on music festivals that happen in a digital mean
and/or through VR. It includes livestreams – like the case of QF – and all festivals that
require some technology (platform, app, equipment, among others). Firstly, the
advantages pointed out by the interviewees are divided in 3 main categories and analysed
accordingly. Then, the challenges come next and are also divided in 3 main categories.

Finally, the overall experience makes an overview of how technology affects and
influences the experience that the attendees have, exploring the perspectives of the
interviewees regarding the viability of the hybrid models and paid digital experiences by
focusing more on the attendees’ experience and their relationship with technological
tools. The question of how a digital and/or virtual model on its own or combined with a
physical model is the most prominent and the perspectives of the interviewees are shared
to better understand the research problem. It concludes with 3 tables that summarize all
the contents analysed and the discussion of these results is made in the next chapter.

However, before analysing deeply the 3 categories mentioned before, it is important

to contextualize the scenario of music festivals nowadays according to the interviewees.

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João Fonseca states that the rising of technologies throughout the years – and especially
the covid-19 pandemic – opened doors for online events and potentialized another type
of market. Despite of this, although he believes that the “in-person market” will remain
in the next years, Robin Collings points out that since virtual events open the experience
to the attendee, the digital market can get even bigger, agreeing also that it might create
disparities between the big music festivals and the medium/small music festivals. One
reason for this, according to João Fonseca, is that the smaller festivals can never compete
financially with a festival that has much bigger dimensions, which is supported by Maria
Sara Costa, that indicates the financial constraints as the biggest hindrance to the
production of virtual events.

The 4 interviewees identify and recognize the growth of technologies both in the
venue itself and in digital channels, pointing out advantages, challenges and difficulties
felt in considering or organizing a digital experience.

4.1 Comfort, security and monitoring

When asked how the implementation of technology may affect positively or

negatively the experience of a music festival, João Fonseca defends that technology has
positive impacts on various subjects. Starting with comfort, technology can be a useful
tool in matters like transportation and the attendees being able to see the agglomeration
of people inside of the venue in real time. For example, if the festival provides buses for
the attendees to go to the venue or move from one point to another, technology can
provide comfort since they might be able to see in real time if there are too many people
on the bus and choose the way of transportation that they prefer the most. Some people
simply do not like being in the middle of the crowd and prefer to have a more relaxed
experience. This technology can also be applied to music tents, queues for food vans,
merchandising stores, among others. Through an app, for instance, the attendees can see
the agglomeration of people in every part of the venue and make a better management of
their time and experience having this in consideration.

In what regards digital tickets, João Fonseca states that QF has been working
towards digitalization and the maximum reduction of physical tickets as they were used
to be known. This is also happening in Rock in Rio, where Maria Sara Costa states that
in 2018 they did not have the opportunity to introduce digital payments or digital tickets.

32
However, some of the platforms that allow this digitalization are now more evolved and
are being tested to ensure their successful use in the 2022 edition.

Regarding security, João Fonseca points out the advantages of technology as a

useful tool through security cameras. The festival organizers can also use the platforms
mentioned in the previous paragraph to track where people are more agglomerated and
act according to their behaviour and patterns. He also mentions that having in
consideration the covid-19 pandemic and the consequent vaccination of the population,
the validation of the vaccine certificates can bring added value to the festival since the
organization can know if the people are vaccinated or not. Added to this, they can know
with whom the attendees were inside of the venue, where they walked, bought food,
among other aspects, and prevent another wave of the virus, thereby ensuring a safe and
healthy environment.

João Fonseca also states that technology is very useful for marketing purposes.
The organizers are able to monitor the attendees’ behaviour, patterns and choices since
they first engage with the festival, to the moment that they buy the tickets, how they buy
them, when they are deciding the best way to go the venue until the moment that they are
inside and are exploring the festival. With the proper monitoring and tracking of the
attendees’ behaviour, the organizers can improve the venue itself, re-locating the vans,
stages and other important structural and design aspects if needed. They can see what way
of payment is preferred by the festivalgoers and improve their options so that the
experience gets facilitated. He believes that having a deeper knowledge of the public’s
behaviour allows a better communication strategy because the organizers know what the
public looks for, where they look for it, where they go, with who they share the
experience, among other aspects. And this monitoring can be very powerful to better
promote the festival and make the information get to the public in the right place and at
the right time.

Although these are advantages to both promoters and attendees, João Fonseca calls
attention to the challenge that is the internet access and connection. For these technologies
to work correctly – for both attendees and organizers – a good connection to the internet
is necessary inside of the venue, as well as a high network capacity. This can be a
challenge because not everybody may be able to use these technologies or have a good
experience if they do not have good and fast access to the internet in the first place. Which
can turn the supposed-to-be good experience into a stressful time where they cannot
33
access the internet. At large festivals, any change, as minimal as it may appear, involves
resources, huge logistics and investment and that needs to be taken into consideration
when implementing technology.

4.2 Virtual and digital experiences

When asked about virtual music festivals in general, all the interviewed showed a
positive and motivated perspective towards this growing reality. João Fonseca is an
apologist that innovation is a good thing and that we should give the benefit of the doubt
and support this kind of change. The interviewees were also asked about advantages and
challenges of virtual music festivals and on what concerns the advantages, they can be
divided in 3 major categories: reach, physical constraints and feeling of belonging.

4.2.1 Advantages

4.2.1.1 Reach

Reach is the most mentioned advantage by all the interviewees. By organizing Lost
Horizon, Robin Collings and the rest of the team realized that this type of events have a
different level and that things can actually be done with them. He mentions that they could
reach everybody who had an internet connection in the whole planet, which opened their
eyes and captured their imaginations since that was the first festival using only VR.
Anonymous also pointed out that through Festival X they broadened their audience and
reached out people who cannot go the physical festival due to financial impossibilities,
connection them with their brand.

João Fonseca states that reaching this amount of people also has benefits in
showcasing to the attendees the various parts that the festival has that some people do not
know about. In the case of QF, although they did not use VR, they showed the people
who watched the livestreams and/or the documentary that was launched all the activities
that QF has and that turned out to be a good opportunity not only for the organization but
also for the attendees, that got to know everything about the event. Maria Sara Costa also
strengthened that a hybrid model can be beneficial because it can indeed reach more
people with no geographical barriers. Moreover, Anonymous points out that the main

34
problem in music festivals is the weather and in a virtual one that is not a problem since
the people can “check it back” on another time or have it on-demand. This represents an
opportunity for the attendees and a smaller risk for the organizers since they can reach
more people with less constraints.

In what regards only the promoters, Maria Sara Costa says that it can bring the
advantage of adding outreach numbers to the in-person festival numbers. If people enjoy
the virtual festival, João Fonseca states that the chances of them buying tickets for the
next physical edition are very high, agreeing that it is extremely positive for the festival
itself. With a hybrid model, he defends that it was possible to reach everybody and
especially the ones who are really interested in the event and could not attend it. This can
also be applied to other festivals. Festival X for example, is quite expensive and for an
affordable amount of money, the attendees could feel what the festival is about.

The reach that this technology has can bring advantages in terms of partner
negotiations, allowing brand presence to be doubled (physically and virtually), according
to Maria Sara Costa. On the other hand, João Fonseca points out difficulties in this subject
since the partners of QF privilege contact with people and when a festival goes online this
physical contact does not happen, which made the brands/partners do not have a lot of
interest in having visibility. Since in 2020 took place so many livestreams and online
events, the fact that QF was not the first online event made it more difficult to arouse
curiosity around the event and create an offer that was good enough for the brands to be
interested in.

The fact that this technology allows the promoters to reach everybody with an internet
connection has the advantage of increasing the interactions that happen on the platforms
and/or on social media. João Fonseca enhances the moment of synergy that happened in
the comments’ section of the livestreams that they held and also the sharing of pictures
on Instagram, achieving the communication goal that they had. It has the power to
increase online reach of the music festival, attracting more people to visit their social
media channels and interact with the promoters or other attendees, thereby growing their
brand recognition.

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4.2.1.2 Reduction of physical constraints

In terms of physical constraints and still related to the reach of this type of festival,
Anonymous mentions that since the attendees do not need to buy flight tickets for the
festival, it is easier to reach everybody in the world. Also has the opinion that it is
ecological more efficient because people do not need to travel. They are not limited to
timings since they can tune in from their home whenever they want. Maria Sara Costa’s
point of view meets Anonymous’ because she mentions that when we go to a physical
festival it is necessary to buy a ticket, plan the travel, possibly an accommodation as well,
among other things. With a virtual festival these factors are not involved and we can be
comfortable in our sofa.

Robin Collings enhances the fact that gravity does not matter in a virtual festival, and
everything can be built in a virtual world. In the real world, it would not be possible to
build a skyscraper or hang something in the mid-air without cranes and that requires a lot
of investment. He suggests that is all about finding the balance, curating, and designing
the festival in a way that it does both things: one that allows people to think that that is
completely mind-blowing, different, and also give them the feeling that they went to that
party or festival that they go every year. The producer of Lost Horizon also says that
organizing a virtual festival has the advantage of being more accessible for people with
physical disabilities. These people also want to enjoy the music and sometimes they do
not have access to good spaces in the in-person festival to enjoy it. A virtual festival
allows them to have their own experience without the physical constraints of a music
festival in the real world. This can also be applied to people who have social anxiety or
body dysmorphia that do not allow them to go in those social spaces. They can build an
avatar, change how they look every 5 minutes and break all of their personal boundaries.

Robin Collings, Anonymous and João Fonseca agree that a virtual music festival
allows the artists to record their sets in every part of the world, which breaks a lot of
barriers in terms of geography and inconveniences that might happen (flights cancelled,
for example). Robin Collings mentioned that to make Lost Horizon happen – and having
in consideration the ongoing pandemic – they sent hundreds of green screens to the most
various locations around the world and some artists even recorded the set with their
iPhones. Anonymous also points out that there are American bands, for example, who
were playing in the United States but could not leave the country due to the pandemic and
VR allowed the attendees to still have the experience. This is strengthened by João
36
Fonseca, that suggests that the promoters can put a hologram of the artist that is in another
country in the stage of the in-person festival and that that could be interesting for the
attendee. He also mentions the component of cost, affirming that it would decrease with
this technology due to all the arrangements necessary for the artist to be there in person.

In terms of personal experience of the attendees, Robin Collings indicates that in Lost
Horizon people could have their microphones turned on or off, as well as the speakers,
which allows the festivalgoers to wander around and talk to people freely without the
noise and sometimes tightness of the crowd. Also, one thing that is important to have in
consideration, like Anonymous mentioned, is the weather. If the weather is not
appropriate, it can ruin the experience for the attendees since a music festival is
characteristic for the social and personal interactions (like QF). The experience of the
festival can be negatively affected, which does not happen in a virtual environment.

4.2.1.3 Feeling of belonging

All the interviewees agree that a virtual festival can provide a sense of connectivity
and a feeling of belonging. Maria Sara Costa enhances that – especially during the
pandemic – virtual festivals created the feeling of “I was there” in the attendees, making
them feel special. João Fonseca strengthened this idea by affirming that the nature of
human beings is to like to feel special and unique, that something is made exclusively for
them. With this, he believes that personalizing an event for each person may be possible.
If the feeling of belonging mentioned above is indeed created, it will add value to the
festival and create differentiation, since a virtual presence has the exclusivity of making
everyone feel that they are being part of the event, according to Maria Sara Costa.

Robin Collings intensifies this idea by saying that these types of events can break the
boundaries of geography, politics, and culture. Some cultures have a pre-conceived idea
about each other and some of them are not even allowed to be together although they
really do not why. In a virtual event organized by the Producer he states that people with
different political and cultural backgrounds came together, listened to the same music,
and learned that the people they are taught to hate are actually just normal human beings
who grew up listening to the same type of music and with very similar interests. Like it
was said in the previous paragraph, all interviewees agree and believe in the power of this
technology to make people feel special and part of something. Which they consider being

37
extremely positive for the promoters and the attendees if they can provide a customized
experience that, like Robin Collings suggested, allows people to think that it is completely
staggering and gives them the feeling that they usually feel in the in-person experiences.

4.2.2 Challenges

When asked about the disadvantages and challenges of a virtual festival, having
in consideration the answers of the interviewees, it makes sense to also divide in 3 major
categories: cost and investment, accessibility, and differentiation.

4.2.2.1 Cost and investment

The cost that a virtual festival has and the investment that it requires is the biggest
challenge that the interviewees pointed out. Maria Sara Costa states that the financial cost
is the biggest hindrance, not only in terms of the production but also in terms of the
musical rights of the artists. João Fonseca also mentioned the same problem by saying
that QF could not keep the livestreams on their digital channels due to copyright of the
songs played during the livestream, which can be applied to a virtual festival too. A
challenge is found here since the cost of the copyright of the artists needs to be taken into
consideration when creating a digital experience.

Maria Sara Costa also explains that communication-wise, it is necessary a big

investment, affirming that one of the biggest challenges is the reach rates of the festival
in case a good communication is not made. In order for the people to know what the
festival is about, a big effort needs to be made to make the information get to the right
people. Robin Collings pointed out a difficulty that they found while organizing Lost
Horizon, which was people not knowing exactly what they were being asked to spend
money for. Although he affirms that Lost Horizon was having a huge reach on social
media, for the people who have never experienced something like this can get confusing
since they do not know exactly what they are buying. Therefore, it is harder to make
people commit financially to a digital experience, according to Anonymous. This is also
why Maria Sara Costa believes that the communication efforts to reach impactful results
may be too demanding to cohabit with a physical festival.

Besides the communication efforts and the financial requirements that they have,
Robin Collings identifies another challenge, which is the audience. He explains that in

38
the Sansar platform that they used, it is necessary a good gaming computer, good
graphics, a good processor, excellent internet connection and ideally a VR set. So, he says
that in experiences like these, organizers usually can only get people who are committed
to gaming or have enough money to buy the VR sets. He identifies this as a big challenge
because it isolates a huge amount of the audience and he believes that the people’s amount
of money should not influence their opportunity to enjoy these experiences, also stating
that they do not want to build an environment where only rich and privileged people can
access. Thus, the organizers cannot be expecting the audience to spend a big amount of
money just to attend an event.

In terms of technology, Maria Sara Costa mentions that the most challenging part
is the investment needed for the virtual experience to be as overwhelming as the physical
one. Otherwise, if the outcome is not satisfactory, she believes that the hybrid model can
be detrimental to the notoriety of the festival. With this said, Anonymous also talks about
the same problem by mentioning that this technology is pretty cost-driven and the
promoters need to think carefully if it is possible to organize this and if it is a risk that
they are willing to take. He also says that the promoters might be limited to travels since
some sets had to be recorded in a studio and that was not possible for everybody. This
made them not being able to reach everyone because they did not have a studio in all
locations necessary, mentioning as well that it is very time consuming and expensive.
Cost-wise, this also meets what Robin Collings mentioned when pointed out that they had
a lot of green screens flying around the world.

Regarding partners, Robin Collings indicates that very few festivals have the
money to invest in something like this and that it is important to include the brands in the
process of creating a virtual festival. He also thinks that the tech sector will need to invest
in the music and culture sector due to organizers not having a lot of money because of the
covid-19 pandemic. He wants to motivate the brands in investing in this sector, believing
that a presence in a digital experience enhances their brand representation and the
experience of a festival, also expanding its audience. However, Anonymous adverts for
the fact that it is required to think carefully which deals are made with different companies
and if they will work together. Consequently, this might be a challenge since Robin
Collings states that until the promoters can prove that this model can survive, they will
have to try to find other ways to attract the attendees.

39
4.2.2.2 Accessibility

Besides requiring a lot of investment, the interviewees also agree that when
organizers are considering a virtual festival, it is necessary to have in consideration if all
the people will have access to it, meeting with what Robin Collings mentioned about not
everybody having access to VR or technological equipment. Anonymous indicates that
not everybody has access to VR so it can narrow the audience, suggesting also that the
promoters need to have good knowledge of what the audience is and customize the
experience with the different technology that is available. He also says that due to the
existence of so many possibilities, it can actually limit the chances to reach out the
audience.

In Rock in Rio, Maria Sara Costa states that the organization of the festival will
always try to make sure that platforms generically used by digital users are already the
vehicle for communication to the virtual and digital experiences. Thereby enhancing the
importance supported by all the interviewees of choosing wisely the used platforms.
Anonymous also adverts for the fact that when people already have the equipment, it is
necessary to take in consideration that it might not work for every software. Data privacy
and security is something that needs to be taken in consideration as well since the
promoters must guarantee that the information of the attendees is well taken care of, safe
and does not fall in the wrong hands.

4.2.2.3 Create differentiation

João Fonseca states that nowadays it is complicated to create differentiation

because people already consume so much content that all the information might be too
confusing for them. Although he believes that the online QF managed to create a unique
feeling for those who never experienced it, it could never be compared to what the event
is in person. With this said, he suggests that the organizers can create a very big
differentiation from what already exists online by having exclusive content that can be
significantly important to create proximity with the festival.

According to Maria Sara Costa, virtual festivals gain relevance by the context in
which they occur. Timing is also a very important aspect according to the interviewees.
Robin Collings remembers that at the time that Lost Horizon happened, people were all

40
in the same boat with the covid-19 pandemic so it was easier to reach the audience and
Anonymous suggests in the winter, for instance, a virtual festival can take place
(especially having in consideration the weather conditions). However, João Fonseca
indicates some difficulties in creating a digital experience because they were not the first
ones creating something like what they did and if they were pioneers on that, it could
have aroused more curiosity. Therefore, the brands and the attendees would have more
interest in participating.

Robin Collings points out the challenge of how to make it close enough to the
real-world experience that people feel drawn to it, respect it culturally and treat it as a real
cultural thing. Nonetheless, not being held back by the physical constraints mentioned
before, like gravity. With this, he states that they must create an energy in a synthetic way
that makes everybody feel like they are really living that. He also enhances the importance
of the artists in this process by saying that the promoters need to get somebody who is
completely dedicated to expressing their inner self as an artist because the emotional risk
attached to the music and to the visual and digital art is too big.

Another risk that he adverts for is that a lot of musical performers and artists have
an adult approach towards their art that might not be appropriate to children or teenagers.
The artists are doing all the exploration of their work and taking the risks attached to that,
but they are adults. The gaming audiences are uncontrollably age-wisely, and the
organizers cannot put the same imagery in an environment where a child or a teenager
would access. However, the true work of artists should not be contained. With this, it is
difficult to find a balance since they do not want to make it too cosy and comfortable but
also do not want to hold back artists.

Robin Collings indicates another challenge which is the commitment of the

audience. This meets the statement of João Fonseca when he affirms that the festivals that
he knows that are most successful are the ones that make the people feel like they are part
of it. There is already a great continuity of the regular attendees, and they feel like the
festival is a little bit theirs. Robin Collings mentions that when going to a physical festival
– in case of Glastonbury – the audience is really committed. They have a plan, booked
time off work, thought about their outfit and by the time that they pass through the main
gates, they are totally committed. He also explains that they are completely part of the
show, they share their best and worst experiences with the people that they are with and
that creates and perpetuates a feeling of ownership for the audience. Especially those who
41
go to every edition. To transport that into a digital experience where people do not leave
their houses is a big challenge and that is why the promoters need to carefully analyse
their audience and create a factor that differentiates them. With real art and new
technologies, they must make the audience really care about it, emotionally commit to it
so that the experience itself gets perpetuated. In the end, he states that is all about making
the offer good enough and try to make it as authentic as possible.

4.3 The overall hybrid experiences

When asked about the overall experience and the reaction of the public to a hybrid
event, the interviewees pointed out important facts. Anonymous considers that it is
generation based, which is supported by Robin Collings when explaining that young
audiences do not have the nostalgic feeling about music or music festivals that older
audiences have. This is important to mention since the people who lived through 1980s,
1990s or even 2000s are committed to a different type of performative music and musical
movement than the generations who grew up in the 2010s and now the 2020s. Today’s
generations grew up with technology in their hands, playing games and listening to music
in a totally different format, which makes them more open to digital experiences.
Anonymous also recognizes that a lot of people who turned 16 or 18 in the pandemic
years (2020 and 2021) probably never experienced a physical music festival and the fact
that they grew up with livestreams makes these digital experiences not exactly new to
them, thereby they are more opened to try them. He goes further by saying that even
people who did not see themselves as a digital audience will now be a digital audience.
João Fonseca’s point of view also meets with the previously mentioned interviewees
when he says that young people are much more apt and at ease to use mobile applications
for instance, agreeing that these digital tools are the future, especially in QF.

João Fonseca suggests that the post pandemic scenario will necessarily require
changes and that these changes can be seen as an opportunity for the promoters. He thinks
that the artists in the future will give a greater use to the audio-visual tools like LED
screens and promoters might even put a simple stage and configurate and change all the
scenarios, lights and sounds through holograms. This can be useful logistical-wise in a
case where a festival has different shows in the same day. By being able to virtually
change the scenery and not having to change the background, LED screen, among other

42
structures, they can save a lot of time for the organizers. Through computing power
promoters can create in real-time completely virtual scenarios that may look real when
they are virtual. With is, he indicates that one of the consequences that surge is the fact
that the festivals will require much more specialized people in audio-visual tools, VR,
and digital technologies in general. So, on one hand, although VR and these technologies
and platforms are still very expensive, the cost of building and changing scenarios may
decrease. But on the other hand, the cost of finding specialized people may increase
because it is still not something that is completely implemented in the market.
Nevertheless, he believes that this can also be an opportunity to create more proximity
with the attendees and increase their interaction with the artists and the festival itself. This
can be done by using a technological tool that allows the attendees to interact directly
with the artist by choosing the next song to be played, for example, which he believes
could bring value to the festival itself. Without the technological part it would not be
possible to show the festivalgoers how the stage behind the festival is set up for example.
By making them feel special, they can have a different experience and that reveals to be
a good opportunity for the promoters. In the case of QF, he states that the organization
will make efforts to seize these natural changes to improve the conditions of the event
both digitally and in terms of sustainability.

Robin Collings defends that digital and virtual experiences can allow people to
explore gender identity and aspects of their own personality that they might not be
comfortable doing in a social group. When gamers are playing in an environment that
uses weapons, they know that that it is not real. Thereby the consequences are not real,
and this allows people to explore themselves, their personal-selves, and elements that
society would not accept in real life. He reinforces this idea by stating that the norms of
society regarding body image, body dysmorphia and our image of ourselves do not exist
in this environment. “Just come with your soul, does not matter what is your body or what
you choose to represent yourself with. You can be anybody here, it does not matter, it
does not make a difference. The differences are yours, not mine.” However, with this
freedom to be whoever we want in a digital experience, he also affirms that the promoters
need to think hard about how to manage the experience and make sure it is not an area
where people take advantage of that freedom to mistreat others.

He strengthens the advantages of reducing the physical constraints and feeling of

belonging by saying that in a digital experience one can either play it like Grand Theft

43
Auto on a keyboard or put on a VR set and have a totally immersive experience. In Lost
Horizon people could walk around the dancefloor and hear what other people were
saying, the music was loud, and the attendees could go to the corner to “smoke”. This
behaviour has a lot of similarities with the in-person experience of a festival, and that
made it feel real. These types of small details can make a digital experience feel real and
in the end, they are about connectivity and allowing people to feel something.

Some virtual experiences that happened in 2020 and 2021 were paid, which reveals
to be an important topic to ask the interviewed. João Fonseca defends that if the promoters
can create a very big differentiation from what already exists online by – for example –
broadcasting the show of an artist in several angles, different dynamics, the backstage and
other interesting parts of the show, it could work. However, he also defends that it could
never be more expensive than the ticket to the physical experience. This meets Maria Sara
Costa’s perspective when she says that at the limit the attendees could pay a minimal fee
to have access to the content. The public has expectations related to the physical “festival
experience” as a term of comparison, so in case they do not like the experience, at the
most they will be disappointed with it. On the other side, Anonymous considers that the
attendees of Festival X in 2020 reacted well to the fact that it was paid due to not being
too expensive, which made them come back for the second edition in 2021.

When asked about the viability of digital and virtual experiences in general and
their future, all interviewees defend that this technology is the future. João Fonseca stands
by the idea that the change needs to be progressive, and that society cannot make the
mistake of suddenly transitioning everything to online. He believes that in cases of more
quiet and intimate events and concerts it may work online and that it gives people the
possibility to maybe watch them later, which is a positive experience for them. Maria
Sara Costa defends that if the festival meets the conditions of having the financial
possibility of investing in this model, a strong online presence and, above all, an original
and impactful virtual festival format, it can be relevant. She points out, that economic-
wise we may see a jolt in the purchasing power of the people, which can increase digital
festivals. However, on the other hand, it is predictable a boom of physical return to
festivals and the decrease of online experiences already so intensely lived in the
pandemic. This meets Anonymous’ point of view forasmuch as he considers that people
right now are craving for live festivals. Even so, he also believes that physical and digital
events will exist next to each other. Regarding Robin Collings’ perspective, he does not

44
want to proliferate screens as a way of life because he considers it to not be very beneficial
in the long term for the attendees. Despite this, on the other hand he recognizes that the
internet is now propagating the mindset of searching different music and these types of
events allow people from anywhere in the world access real culture. If a person has
internet, can access the entire history of all music and culture that has ever been created
and if the creation of digital experiences gives these opportunities to people, then it should
be done.

The most relevant question to this study that was made in the interviews was if the
digital experience could be the same as the physical one. When interrogated, all the
interviewed answered that a digital experience could never be the same as a physical one.
João Fonseca says that it is utopian to say so and that for those who have experienced QF
in person, it would never be possible.

“The closeness, the stories, the people, you talk with people that do not know. You

share moments with people with people you do not know, you stand in line for the

bathroom and meet a new person, you see friends you have not seen in a long time.

(…) I do not think these kinds of online interactions would ever happen.”

Robin Collings considers that the experience that Lost Horizon provided was
different than the experience of living Shangri La in person. He enhances that it is hard
to compare them both forasmuch as it was a shallower and different experience.
Furthermore, when asked if technologies present in in-person festivals and the
combination of both models can improve the festival itself as a brand, he defends that it
could make it more fun, but he does not think that they will make the real-world
experience necessarily any better. He suggests that it will probably open the experience
up to the rest of the world, guessing that it could make the market bigger. This also meets
what João Fonseca stated in point 4 when he said that this growth of digital experiences
opened doors for this market. Robin Collings continues by saying that he does not think
this technological presence will undoubtedly change how production of the festival is and
the experience people have on the ground. This experience is a very well carved out and
designed thing and the parameters of geography and creativity are still real on the ground.
He does not think that they will allow people to spend more money unless it allows brands
to bring more money.

45
 The producer also affirms that there is an industrial attitude to the way organizers
of massive festivals manage the huge amount of people and that it may reduce the quality
experience, so it is an aspect that should be avoided when organizing a digital experience.
Maria Sara Costa supports this statement by saying that the experience for the in-person
public is undoubtedly more valued and that the virtual presence has, on the other hand,
the exclusivity of being part of the event and the feeling of belonging. Anonymous also
agrees that a virtual or digital festival cannot provide the same experience as a physical
one and that live festivals could ever be replaced by digital festivals because people are
craving for the in-person ones. Nevertheless, he also suggests that this point of view may
change depending on the person, mentioning the differences of younger and older
audiences previously mentioned.

Analysing all the advantages, benefits, challenges, and difficulties that

implementing technology on music festivals and turning them into hybrid events have,
the interviewees defend that the change to a totally hybrid model must be progressive, in
the right timing, with the right tools and the proper communication. With this said, the
analysis of the results can be concluded with Robin Colling’s standpoint (and initial quote
of this research) on culture and technology that puts together and summarizes the general
perspectives of all the other interviewees:

“Culture, real proper culture breeds creativity and connection. Builds bridges,

relationships, and life itself. So, we can take the power of technology and mix it with

the power of culture and expand the reach and expand the potential for all those

positive things that the music, culture and art have, all those effects on people’s lives.

And you can use that mad power of technology to amplify culture and human

connectivity and that is something that I really believe.”

For all the advantages, benefits, challenges, and difficulties be better understood and
perceived, Tables 3 and 4 systematize the results from the interviews that were made.
They are followed by a SWOT analysis in Table 5 that combines all the identified
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of implementing and adopting a hybrid
model and how it affects the overall experience.

46
 Implementation and adaptation to hybrid models

Comfort, security and monitoring

Comfort Security Monitoring

Identifying the
See the
attendee’s
agglomeration of Security cameras
behaviour help to
people in real time
improve the venue

Advantages Being aware of

patterns and
Digital tickets
Validation of behaviours allows a
facilitate people’s
vaccine certificates better
lives
communication
strategy

Internet connection and high network capacity

Challenges
Minimal changes require huge logistics

Table 3: Comfort, security, and monitoring

47
 Implementation and adaptation to hybrid models

Digital and virtual experiences

Advantages

Reduction of physical
Reach Feeling of belonging
constraints

Reach everybody with an Breaks geographical and

Sense of connectivity
internet connection physical barriers like gravity

Creates more value and

differentiation for the
Broaden the audience Ecological more efficient festival if a personalized
experience can be
delivered

More accessible to people

Reach people who cannot
with physical disabilities, Breaks the barrier of
attend due to financial
social anxiety and/or body culture
issues
dysmorphia

Showcase the
festivalgoers’ parts of the Allows artists to record sets
festival that they do not in every part of the world
know about

Adds outreach numbers Cost reduction in terms of

to the festival numbers physical production

48
 Provides an immersive
Increases the chances of
experience without the noise
people buying tickets in
of the crowd that some people
the next year
do not like

Increases the interactions

Not limited to timings
and social media reach

Weather is not a problem

Challenges

Cost and investment Accessibility Create differentiation

Not all audiences have access Make the virtual

to VR and/or purchasing experience as
Expensive technology
power to acquire it and invest overwhelming as the
on the digital experience physical one

Licensing and copyrights Correct choice of platforms Create proximity with the
with artists that are accessible to most of public
the public

Requires huge Make people see it as

communication effort cultural event

49
 Possible lack of clarity in Convince artists to take

the communication the risk

transmitted to the public

Make the content suitable

Time and the specialized
for both adults and
team necessary to create
children without holding
the experience
back artists

Make audiences
Convince brands to emotionally commit to it
invest in these events and
experiences

Table 4: Digital and virtual experiences

50
 The overall experience

Strengths Weaknesses

- - Digital and virtual platforms are

- Holograms and VR can create proximity expensive
with the public and increase interaction - - People are craving for physical festivals
- Digital and virtual events allow the- - Digital experiences cannot replace the
exploration of personal identity physical music festivals
- Norms of society do not exist - - Experience on the ground is well carved
- Digital and virtual experiences can be out and designed
immersive enough to be close and similar- - Parameters of geography and creativity
to reality are still on the ground
- Digital and virtual experiences are - - There is an industrial attitude towards the
possible to watch later or on-demand public of massive festivals
- These experiences allow people to access- - Experience of the in-person public is
real culture and the entire history of music more valued
- Exclusivity of being part of the event - - Requirement of more specialized people
and technologies

Opportunities Threats

- Younger generations do not have the

nostalgic feeling - People can take advantage of the
- Young people are more open and apt to freedom that the internet provides and
technological devices and platforms mistreat others
- Post pandemic scenario requires - Not have the financial possibility to
changes invest on these experiences
- Cost of physical production may - Purchasing power of people (they do
decrease not have a lot of money after the
- Both models open the festival up to the pandemic to invest in an in-person
world festival
- Growth of the digital market

Table 5: The overall experience

51
5 Discussion

In what concerns comfort, security and monitoring, Mortensen at. al stated that
music festivals are constantly required to improve the efficiency of their infrastructures,
which meets with João Fonseca’s perspective when he affirms that the organization of
QF will make efforts to seize the natural changes of society and technology to improve
the conditions of the event both digitally and in sustainability. With this, both the authors
and the interviewees recognize the need of music festival organizers to pay attention to
the technological changes that are happening in real-time today and apply them to their
event. Their purpose is to facilitate and improve the attendees’ experience, as well as the
accessibility to and inside the venue.

As mentioned in the framework, and according to Winkle & Bueddefeld (2020),

the RFID wristbands help avoiding queues and paying problems, collecting also
important information about the attendees’ habits inside of the festival. João Fonseca also
mentions the usefulness of these technologies for marketing purposes. They are important
also to understand what payment method is preferred by the festivalgoers’, using that
information to improve the options available and thereby facilitating the experience.
Patchen (2015) reinforces this statement by affirming that RFID technologies aligned
with virtual payments increase the overall revenues of music festivals, thus enhancing the
festival experience of the attendees.

As already explained in the previous chapter, all the interviewees agree that the
reach is the biggest advantage of a hybrid model and that it promotes interaction in the
digital channels. This is supported by Jones & Bennett (2015) when they suggest that live
concerts complement participation on online communities such as music blogs and social
networks. João Fonseca enhances the power of these tools to reach more people and gives
the example of the livestream of QF’s events, that gave the students who never attended
the event an opportunity to be aware of it and to get to know it better.

According to Hatch (2020), livestreams can reach large audiences, are a great tool
for audience engagement and Kacicki (2019) also defends that they are an optimal way
of introducing an experience to new customers. As mentioned before, João Fonseca
believes that technology in music festivals increases the chances of people buying tickets
for the next years and this is supported by the study conducted by Digitell. The study
concluded that 30% of people that watch a livestream event buy a ticket for the physical

52
event in the next year. Pitchfork (2017) also supports these statistics by mentioning that
current technologies that aim to produce an immersive experience will make the attendees
come back in the next edition. So, we can detect an agreement by the authors and the
interviewees on this matter.

Regarding the presence of the brands in hybrid experiences, Maria Sara Costa
believes that their presence can be doubled (physically and virtually), which goes in
accordance with Ribeirinho (2014) when the author mentions that brand recognition is
important forasmuch as offers possibilities to communicate in different ways to the
public. It is also possible to see on Attachment IV the importance of brand presence and
brand activations in music festivals, that Deng (2018) believes that can create value in the
attendees’ mind.

The interviewees agree that a virtual experience reduces and eliminates physical
constraints like gravity, allowing the experience of the festival to be lived in the comfort
of our homes. Maria Sara Costa reinforces this idea by saying that factors like the
purchasing of the transportation to the festival, planning of accommodation, among other
required processes, are not a problem in a digital experience. This is supported by the
estimation of Bandsintown, whose results demonstrate the power of these experiences for
the festival’s brand and, according to Haider (2019), allows the people to feel the
atmosphere of the festival without leaving their houses. The sense of embodiment that
Rueda & Lara (2020) presented meets Robin Colling’s perspective of the ease of building
an avatar and change it every 5 minutes. Won, Bailenson & Lanier (2015) also support
this statement forasmuch as they affirm that this body illusion can be achieved by
inhabiting those same avatars.

Anonymous, Maria Sara Costa and Robin Collings also recognize the importance
and influence of the weather and its power to ruin an in-person festival. Supported by
Gajanan (2019), this author also indicates this factor as a risk and a powerful mean to ruin
the experience. The interviewees acknowledge that in a digital environment this is not a
hindrance and that a digital experience does not require the public to be at the same place
and not even at the same time. Like Anonymous points out, people can watch the contents
on-demand or check it back later and this goes in accordance with Jones & Bennett
(2015). The authors fortify this idea by saying that thanks to these technologies, the
definition of live music was expanded, thereby shows do not require this need to be in the
same place at the same time.
53
 Cost and investment-wise, all the interviewees indicate the financial investment
as the biggest challenge of hybrid and digital experiences. Not only in terms of technology
and production, but also in communication, musical rights of the artists and the
requirement of specialized people pointed out by João Fonseca. Saville (2018) asserts that
nowadays music festivals are more expensive not only to organize but also to attend and
Robin Collings identifies the problem that of a lot of festivals not have the money to
invest in a hybrid model. Maria Sara Costa acknowledges the same difficulty, enhancing
the special impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the industry and on the purchasing power
of the public. On the other hand, the statistics of Coachella, Tomorrowland and
Glastonbury demonstrate how a digital presence has return on investment, going against
Maria Sara Costa’s point of view, that believes that the communication efforts to reach
significant results in in a hybrid model may be too demanding to cohabit with a physical
festival.

On the other side, Charron (2017) affirms that the economic potential of virtual
concerts is almost infinite, and Deng (2018) enhances the importance of brands as major
players in a music festival, able to provide consumers enjoyment and entertainment.
Robin Collings goes further by asserting that the tech sector should invest on the culture
sector and that a job of convincing the brands to apply their money on festivals must be
done.

Lastly, regarding digital and virtual experiences and how they affect and impact
the overall experience, Rueda & Lara (2017) state that VR is an experience generator able
to provide stimulating events that may be experienced in physical reality or similar to that
reality. This meets Robin Colling’s point of view when he gives the example of people in
Lost Horizon being able to go to the corner of the virtual venue to avoid the crowd,
making it feel like a real-world experience. On the other hand, Harper (2015) says that
digital experiences do not provide the “possibilities for the unexpected, iterative and
expansive experience”, which is supported by Lovatt (2021), that stands by the idea that
all the aspects that compose a music festival should have the same high standard for
everyone whether they choose to attend physically or virtually.

Maria Sara Costa affirms that the experience of the in-person public is more
valued, and Holt (2010) reinforces this idea by saying that live performances still keep
the uniqueness of being there, that cannot be reproduced in a digital festival. Gajanan
(2019) also affirms the same idea by saying that due to digitalization and streaming of
54
music, live music has become much more special. However, all the interviewees agree
that a digital experience provides and creates a feeling of belonging. Maria Sara Costa
also enhances that a virtual experience has the advantage of having the exclusivity to
make people feel like they were there. This affirmation is supported by the research of
Rosa et. al (2016) that states that immersive virtual experiences are thought to lead to
even higher levels of presence and according to Charron (2017), this concept is usually
associated with immersive technologies like VR.

In what regards the dimension of now presented by Harper (2015), the author
considers that a digital experience loses this important aspect. On the other hand, and as
mentioned before, Anonymous points as an advantage of digital experiences the facility
of accessing the contents that the festivalgoers’ want to see at any time that they prefer.
The access to information and culture is also highlighted as a strong advantage by Robin
Collings, that explains that with access to the internet it is possible to search for
everything that the public wants, music-related or not. This is strengthened by Burland &
Pitts (2010), affirming that digital technologies are powerful tools in presenting new
performers, facilitating information and content. Which has the consequence of reducing
the financial risks of attending a live show.

Robin Collings highlighted the advantages of digital experiences regarding

personal physical constraints like disabilities, social anxiety, or body dysmorphia.
Enhancing also how people are free to be whoever they intend to be and explore their
inner selves in an environment propitious to that exploration and interaction with others.
Hatch (2020) supports this idea and identifies digital experiences as being especially
adequate to people with physical or cognitive limitations. Kinnunen (2018) also stands
by the idea that music festivals are places capable of building people’s identity since they
offer means to identity building and its demonstration to others. Which Robert Collings
also mentioned when explaining that digital and virtual experiences allow people to
explore gender identity and that only their soul matters inside a digital world.

With this said, authors and interviewees agree that for a hybrid model to work, a
differentiation factor needs to be created. Morgan (2009) asserts that the overall
experience must be created in a way that is so unique and memorable that will remain in
the attendee’s mind. This meets what Robin Collings pointed out about making the offer
good enough in a way that make people feel committed and emotionally committed to the
event. Not only the physical but also the digital one, starting by seeing it as real cultural
55
thing. Slager (2021) says that promoters cannot solely rely on a good line-up or a good
environment to keep the audience engaged and João Fonseca identifies the difficulties in
creating something that differentiates one festival from another if what they do is not very
innovative and does not stand out from the rest. It is also necessary to have in
consideration that music festivals grew into a major money-maker business, according to
Gajanan (2019), something that Robin Collings also mentioned regarding Glastonbury
being a massive money-making machine. Withal, to create differentiation, Robin Collings
defends that the promoters must create an energy that makes people feel like they are, like
they belong, also highlighting the big importance of artists in this process.

All the interviewees agree that a digital experience could never be the same as a
physical one, with Robin Collings suggesting that a combination of both models could
make the overall experience more fun. However, he does not believe that it could
necessarily improve the physical experience. Like presented before, Harper (2015)
suggests that digitally mediated experiences cannot offer the same experience as a
physical experience and João Fonseca agrees with this by saying that it would be utopian
to say that both models provide the same experience to the attendee.

With this discussion, it is now possible to answer the questions previously made
in the Introduction of this research. Regarding the question “How the implementation of
technologies – transforming music festivals into hybrid events – affects the overall
experience of the attendee?”, the authors and the interviewees agree that it can increase
the sense of embodiment, the feeling of being there and belonging to the event. Allow
people to explore themselves and connect with others since physical constraints are not
an issue. Concerning the physical event, the authors and the interviewees agree that it can
improve the venue in facilitating questions of logistics, transportation, or payments, also
facilitating the experience of the attendee.

They point out cashless systems and digital payments, monitoring platforms,
improvement of infrastructures, and freedom of expression as the ways that technology
can improve the music festival. Therefore, answering the question “In what ways
technology can improve the music festival?”. On what regards the challenges, aspects like
inaccessibility to VR equipment, high cost and investment and creation of differentiation
as the bigger challenges, thus answering the question “What about the challenges?”. Like
previously mentioned, all interviewees and authors agree that a digital and/or virtual
experience can never provide the same experience, answering to the ultimate question.
56
 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

57
6 Conclusion

The elaboration of this study was very important to understand what the current state
of the art regarding the topic is and have a deeper knowledge about how the concept of
“overall experience” started. The acknowledgement of the importance of Woodstock or
Monterey and the general evolution of musical genres provided a broad background, as
well as understanding the huge significance of music festivals in the global economy and
in the culture.

Being technology such a commented subject in the most various areas of society,
doing research about its usefulness being applied to music festivals enriched this
investigation and defined what was the subject of study. With the further exploration of
specific technologies that are being implemented nowadays and 2 concrete examples of
digital and virtual festivals, we can conclude that hybrid models are definitely a reality
that we must be acquainted of in the years to come.

The framework showed the different points of view regarding how these technologies
affect the overall experience of the attendees, focusing as well on how it can increase and
improve the music festival’s brand recognition. The challenges on what concern internet
connection, accessibility in terms of network, the proper equipment and financial
possibilities were acknowledged, as well the financial investment that needs to be made,
carefully, by the brands. Several important aspects as human resources (specialized
professionals), logistics (travels, equipment), communication and, above all, a
differentiative factor need to be taken into consideration when the promoters think about
embracing this growing reality.

However, advantages like the exponential reach and its high probability to increase
the brand’s recognition, the personalized experience that can be provided and the feeling
of true embodiment, presence and belonging need to be remembered and thought through
to provide the attendees a meaningful experience that they will remember. Thereby
perpetuating the relationship between the festival and the festivalgoer, as well as the
promotion of a good and solid brand image to society.

The importance of sponsor brands and brands as investors in this sector was
highlighted too, recognizing the urge of tech companies to invest in culture and amplify
its power. Brands should seize the predisposition of the attendees to be shown new and
exciting things and use to power of culture to amplify their business in return. Therefore,
58
culture and technology can walk together towards a future that is more special,
meaningful, memorable, and efficient at the same time.

The authors and the interviewees agree on the facility that the users have in
changing who they are on a physical level inside of an immersive experience, not having
the constraints of real life limiting them of being who they want to be. Walking in
direction to a future where questions like sexual orientation, gender identity and body
image will hopefully stop being an issue, music festivals – as experience generators and
identity creators that they are – must keep up and promote these changes themselves.
They must be active members of social liberation, social justice promoters and safe spaces
where experiences and memories can be created and perpetuated.

7 Contributions and impacts

This study generated a lot of awareness and discussion for the scientific community
but specially to music festival organizers. Through this investigation were made
significant contributions with the expertise of experienced professionals in hybrid events
or who are considering following that path. Their insight was crucial to understand the
true reality of immersive experiences and their influence and impact on the audiences.

A strong highlight was made in this research to festivals like Coachella Valley Music
and Arts Fair, Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, Shangri La’s
online version “Lost Horizon” and Tomorrowland for being worthy case studies in what
concerns their digital and technological approach. It was analysed how they embrace
social and digital channels, created a digital experience (Shangri La and Tomorrowland)
and how that can set an example to festivals who are considering implementing this reality
in their activity.

This study might be useful to music festival organizers to have a deeper and practical
knowledge about the current state of digital and/or virtual experiences and have all the
advantages, challenges, and aspects on the table. They might be able to define the best
technological and marketing strategies that create value and differentiation, and the
SWOT analysis along with the previous table might help in this end. They summarize all
the determinant aspects of what a hybrid model can and cannot provide both for the
attendees and the promoters.

59
8 Study limitations

The limitations to this study were the number of interviews that took place. To have
a broader and more amplified vision of this reality, more promoters and specialists should
have contributed and provide elucidation about the topic. More professionals who
implemented technology and embraced hybrid models as well as promoters that do not
have interest in doing so could have presented their points of view. This happened due to
the lack of answers to the contacts made and the lack of time to try to reach more
contributors. Hereupon, this research lacks a bigger and broader gathering of different
perspectives about hybrid models, which can be seen as an unfavourable to a completely
partial investigation.

9 Recommendations for future investigations

Having in consideration the limitations previously mentioned, the recommendations

for future investigations are based upon havening the contribution of more experts on the
area as well as promoters who are not in favour of hybrid models. A case study “on the
field” would also be valuable forasmuch as would give direct and true insight of this
growing reality and all the challenges, problems, and advantages that it has. An attentive
and close vision could be extremely useful and provide powerful information to
professionals on the area.

60
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 ATTACHMENTS

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Attachment I – Major brands at music festivals (retrieved from
Brandwatch)

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Attachment II – Nielsen “Music 360 Report” (retrieved from Nielsen)

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Attachment III – Tomorrowland: Social Media Overview 2016
(retrieved from Festival Sherpa)

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Attachment IV – Coachella’s social media engagement (retrieved from
Netbase Quid)

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